India vs Bangladesh: Injured Nehra ruled

New Delhi (JPN): As India is set to take on Bangladesh in the first Cricket World Cup 2011 match on Saturday, it received its first jolt after Indian pacer Ashish Nehra was ruled out from the first match.

According to sources, Nehra is not a part of the playing 11 due to a sore groin.

S Sreesanth is now expected to bowl along with Munaf Patel and Zaheer Khan in the crucial first match.

However, India’s Team Manager denied the report and said that a final call on the pacer’s fitness would be taken just before the match.

Captain MS Dhoni had earlier said that Zaheer Khan is fit and should be ready for the opening game.

India take on Bangladesh in Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in a re-match of their previous World Cup opener which they lost by five wickets and were subsequently ousted from the first round.

Zaheer, who is suffering from a lingering shoulder injury, was not risked for India’s two practice matches against Australia and New Zealand before they leave home for Bangladesh.

Bowling powerhouse Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and Munaf Patel were allowed to bowl only 24.1 overs between themselves in the two warm-up games to avoid injuries.

India has already lost paceman Praveen Kumar to an elbow injury before the World Cup and was replaced by Sreesanth.